First came the Podcast, now comes the Blog! Join and follow Syan and Rican as we tackle subjects, from the perspective of a comic book guru and a rican with a straw hat, like: wrestling, video games, comics, movies, television, and more!

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Comic Critique- Angela: Asgard's Assassin

Sent from Heven above, Angela has had a long journey to
getting her own series at Marvel Comics.
She was created at an entirely different company by Neil Gaiman and Todd
McFarlane in the pages of Spawn. Her
character was used sporadically in various issues of Spawn throughout the 90s,
but then began one of the most hotly contested legal battles in comic book
history to decide who owned the rights to the angel Angela. Eventually, Neil Gaiman won and promptly sold
those rights to Marvel Comics.

Cool cats never look back at the explosion

Angela made her first appearance at the end of the major
event Age of Ultron (no relation to the plot of the movie except having the
eponymous android as the main villain) in 2013 as the Marvel Universe began to
show its first signs of collapsing. Time travel and universal abuse had fractured
reality, changing people’s history, sending Galactus to the Ultimate Universe,
and opening the gate to the new-found Tenth Realm of the World Tree, which
allowed for Angela to enter the 616. In
the following year, during the Original Sin event, the eye of Uatu the Watcher
revealed a secret to Thor Odinson: he had a sister. This sister had been taken and thought to be
murdered by the Angels of Heven who attacked Asgard because they felt Odin owed
them a debt, and Angels do nothing for free.
In his rage, Odin and Freyja severed Heven from the World Tree and
sealed them away, to forever be forgotten.

As Thor and Loki went to Heven to get vengeance upon the
Angels for the death of their sister, Angela worked with her recent allies, the
Guardians of the Galaxy, to return to her home.
They crossed paths and, raging battle fiends that they are, Thor and
Angela quickly came to blows. Angela
defeated Thor and moved back to Heven, but Loki revealed the truth he had
discovered: Angela was truly Aldrif Odinsdottir, Thor and Loki’s sister. As an Asgardian, Angela became labeled an enemy
of Heven, but, as they cannot leave the scales unbalanced, the Queen of Angels let
Angela leave as payment for all the great deeds she performed while in her
service.

Now, with her Asgardian heritage revealed, Angela has chosen
to travel the universe and discover what secrets it may hold. Written by Kieron Gillen and Marguerite
Bennett and with illustration duties shared by Phil Jimenez and Stephanie Hans,
this book is both incredibly tightly plotted and gorgeously drawn. Obviously, Gillen picks up the majority of
the background from the Original Sin:
Thor & Loki- The Tenth Realm series, but he uses plenty of references
and makes the series feel a continuation of his Journey Into Mystery run, with plot thread carried over from the
Manchester Gods and Everything Burns storylines. However, the writing succeeds in walking the
fine line of using plot threads that came before without it feeling necessary
to have read those previous arcs. All
information is laid out clearly enough that it is understood in the context of
this story alone, but the well-placed editor’s notes let those who are
interested know which books to pick up to get the deeper understanding of the
series. Bennett’s contributions should
not be undersold, whatsoever. Her voice
can be seen in the flashback sequences of the book, carrying a poetic style
that fits rhythmically with the mythological tone of the series.

Poor Odinson. He lost his hammer, his arm, and his siblings hate him.

Jimenez, who is a legendary artist well-known for his
acclaimed run on Wonder Woman has
taken a huge shine to Angela. The detail
on every character is refined and his penchant for big hair plays perfectly
into Angela’s design early on. Angela’s
power set and attitude being quite akin to Diana with more anger issues really
drives home that he was the perfect fit for this book. Hans in the flashback and side-stories is the
painting master she always is. Her art
has such life and energy that it should be hung in museums to gain
appreciation.

Disir: like Bloody Mary, but you only need to say it once
... and there are eleven of them.

Angela: Asgard’s
Assassin leads Angela into conflict with all of Asgard when she takes a
treasured item from Odin and Freyja, her own parents, and flees with her
closest friend, Sera. Angela allows
herself to be vulnerable for the first time in her Marvel appearances when she
is with Sera. She speaks more kindly
with Sera and trusts her, even when sent into a situation that seems to be
certain death. Sera as a character
presents a wonderful type of commentary on transgender people, as well. Sera
was born a male Angel, known as an Anchorite, who are silent and constantly
praying. When she saw Angela fighting a
beast, she joined in the fight, as she never felt that she was an Anchorite.
She eventually found a way to change her body to the way she felt comfortable,
in the form of a woman. I must applaud
Marvel for letting this storyline go through, because it sends a fantastic and
empowering message, and it did so even before the recent Caitlyn Jenner media
coverage.

Foreshadowing a villain for future arcs. Hopefully we get the chance
to see this book relaunched post-Secret Wars.

One of the very interesting things of Angela: Asgard’s Assassin was that it did not seem to have a direct
villain, instead it centered on the conflict brought by perspective and a major
lack of communication skills. True
villains are definitely within the book, but they do not take a primary
position. In fact, a villain is closer than you might think during portions of
the book. Taking this non-traditional
approach makes the storyline stand out from other mainstream Marvel comics and
give it more of an adventure story flair rather than being a superhero beat-‘em-up.

Gamora is immune to Quill's pelvic sorcery
and not about to take any of his shit.

Guest appearances of the Guardians of the Galaxy provide a
good portion of the book’s laughs with some terrific banter. Peter
Quill has the jokes, Rocket never shuts up, and Gamora is engaged in a serious
rivalry because she does not want to admit there is a woman stronger than
her. As with most Asgardian books, you
get the opportunity to experience multiple worlds, traveling through space,
teleporting to Earth, meeting with dwarves, fighting Dark Elves in the forest
of Alfheim, and learning that Heven is not a place on Earth, much to Quill’s
chagrin. This constant flux is a
pleasurable shift from the status quo setting of New York, New York seen in
most books, and the characters being in so many backgrounds lets you really
feel the magic of the tale.

Heven is a battlestation full of angry, angry Angels

One of the biggest moments in the book is when Angela
changes her costume. When she came to
the Marvel Universe, CCO and famed artist Joe Quesada updated her design
slightly, but she mostly retained her look from the Spawn series. Angela’s look is very much in the Red Sonja
vein of a battle-hardened warrior who is woefully underdressed. Cleavage, stomach, most of her legs are bared
by her original outfit. It’s a well-designed and iconic look, but its utility
is under serious question. Angela’s new
outfit is a full-plate battle armor. The
shine and design make her look like a Holy Paladin, reminding me of Agrias of Final
Fantasy Tactics (in practicality, not in fashion) and it makes her feel
more Asgardian, as the book is driving in her familial ties. My only issue with the new design is with the
new headdress and hairstyle. Where Angela previously had a winged piece of
jewelry that rose above her ears, she now has a bladed, jagged headdress which
shoots out to the sides of her eyes. Also, her previously flowing hair,
reminiscent of late 80s Mary Jane (apt, considering her original design was
drawn by McFarlane who had a highly-acclaimed Spider-Man run at that time) now feels drawn as one large Mohawk that
pulls back to fly behind her, as if she were a redheaded Super Saiyan 3 with
only one spike. I hope that future
iterations will keep her armor, but return her old hair and headdress, since
they have a ton of leeway to tweak her design again since the entirety of the
Marvel Universe needs to be rebuilt and reestablished post-Secret Wars anyway.

On the left, Angela's new look. On the right, her original design.

Ultimately, Angela:
Asgard’s Assassin is a great choice if you are looking for a well-written
self-contained story featuring powerful women.
There are few books that can match it in terms of intricately detailed
art and varied locations. It belongs on
the bookshelf of any comic fan of the Thor mythos or the sword and sorcery
genre.

If you like our articles, please hit the Followers button to get updates when we post a new blog!

Don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you never miss an episode!You can also catch our episodes on ouriTunes Syan & Rican page!And you can follow us on Twitter @syanofflame and @StrawHatRican, so ask any questions or give any comments you'd like!